Moscow blames opposition and West for Macedonia flareup
Moscow has accused the opposition in Macedonia of attempting to seize power by force - with US and EU support.
Source: Beta
"On April 27, the opposition that lost the parliamentary election effectively carried out an attempt to seize power in the country by force, by electing the president of the Assembly through a flagrant violation of established procedures," a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said on Friday.
The ministry stated that representatives of the EU, ambassadors of a number of European countries, as well as the US "immediately welcomed 'the new president' of the Assembly."
"Such a lightning-speed, coordinated reaction is undoubtedly a testament to the fact that the incident was planned in advance, with the tacit consent of 'external curators' of the Macedonian opposition. This again confirms the thesis that the main reason for the current internal political crisis in the Republic of Macedonia is the grossest interference in the internal affairs of this country," the statement said, as quoted by Beta.
"The unscrupulous manipulation of the will of citizens is evident in order to remove the legitimate government from power," the MFA said, and added:
"Further developments according to this scenario, the attempts to change the country on the basis of the so-called Tirana Platform, threaten even greater tension and the sliding of the situation into a conflict, including on inter-ethnic grounds. And if we recall that on the same day a French court, despite Serbia's request along the Interpol line, released Kosovo Albanian Ramush Haradinaj, then there is a clear indulging of the West of the Greater Albania aspirations."
"In the current situation, an adequate solution can only be found through intra-Macedonian dialogue within the constitutional and legal framework. It is necessary to stop any external pressure and allow the responsible political forces of the Republic of Macedonia to determine for themselves the further development of the country," Moscow said.
